Almost every web hosting comparison you will read compares the wrong number. The figure on the pricing page, the one that says $2.99 a month in a large friendly font, applies to your first term only. After that you pay the standard rate, and the standard rate is usually somewhere between two and five times higher.
That is not a scandal, it is just how the industry has priced itself for fifteen years. What is genuinely unhelpful is that nobody puts the two numbers side by side, so people choose a host by comparing introductory prices that will all expire, and then get a surprise invoice a year later.
We have reviewed these hosts individually and recorded what each one charges before and after the intro period ends. This page puts all of it in one table and does the arithmetic. Two things fall out of it that changed how we think about recommending hosting, and neither is visible if you only look at the headline price.
What web hosting really costs: the short version
- Renewals typically run two to five times the intro price. The steepest in our data is GreenGeeks at 4.7 times; the gentlest is Namecheap at 2.3 times.
- The cheapest host in year one is often not the cheapest by year four. The spread between hosts is roughly $36 in year one and over $500 across four years.
- The term you choose matters more than the host you choose. Locking a long term at the intro rate can save more than switching provider ever will.
- Cheapest over four years: Namecheap at about $185, mostly because its renewal barely moves.
- Most expensive over four years: SiteGround at about $696, which buys you genuinely better support and speed, but you should know you are paying for it.
Intro price versus renewal price, all nine hosts
These are entry shared plans, the tier most people actually buy. Intro prices are the advertised rate on a standard term and renewal is the ongoing rate once that term ends. All figures are approximate and move with promotions, so treat them as the shape of the deal rather than a quote, and always check the renewal line in the cart before you pay.
| Host | Entry plan | Intro price | Renews around | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | Stellar | ~$1.98/mo | ~$4.48/mo | 2.3x |
| InMotion | Launch | ~$4.99/mo | ~$13.99/mo | 2.8x |
| HostGator | Hatchling | ~$3.75/mo | ~$10.99/mo | 2.9x |
| Hostinger | Premium | ~$2.99/mo | ~$10.99/mo | 3.7x |
| DreamHost | Launch | ~$2.89/mo | ~$10.99/mo | 3.8x |
| Hosting.com | Starter | ~$2.99/mo | ~$11.99/mo | 4.0x |
| Bluehost | Starter | ~$2.95/mo | ~$11.99/mo | 4.1x |
| SiteGround | StartUp | ~$3.99/mo | ~$17.99/mo | 4.5x |
| GreenGeeks | EcoSite Lite | ~$2.95/mo | ~$13.95/mo | 4.7x |
What that adds up to over four years
A multiplier is abstract, so here is the same data as money. This assumes the common path: you buy twelve months at the introductory rate, then renew for three more years at the standard rate. Four years is a fair window because it is roughly how long a small site stays put before someone finally gets round to migrating.
| Host | Year one | Years two to four | Four-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | $23.76 | $161.28 | $185.04 |
| DreamHost | $34.68 | $395.64 | $430.32 |
| Hostinger | $35.88 | $395.64 | $431.52 |
| HostGator | $45.00 | $395.64 | $440.64 |
| Bluehost | $35.40 | $431.64 | $467.04 |
| Hosting.com | $35.88 | $431.64 | $467.52 |
| GreenGeeks | $35.40 | $502.20 | $537.60 |
| InMotion | $59.88 | $503.64 | $563.52 |
| SiteGround | $47.88 | $647.64 | $695.52 |
The two findings that should change your decision
The cheapest host in year one is rarely the cheapest by year four
Look at what happens to the ranking. In year one the entire field sits between about $24 and $60, a spread of roughly $36. Most people treat that as the decision, and $36 across a year is not really a decision at all.
Across four years the same choice is worth more than $500. GreenGeeks is among the cheapest hosts you can buy in year one at $35.40, and finishes seventh of nine at $537.60, because its renewal is the steepest in our data. Bluehost and Hosting.com start within pennies of Hostinger and end up around $36 further behind. SiteGround, which never looks especially expensive on its pricing page, costs nearly four times what Namecheap does over the same period.
Namecheap wins this comparison by a distance, and it wins it for one unglamorous reason: it is the only host here whose renewal stays in single figures. That is worth knowing even if you eventually choose something else, because it tells you exactly which number to interrogate.
The term you choose matters more than the host you choose
This is the finding that surprised us, and it is the most useful thing on this page.
Most of these hosts offer their lowest rate on their longest term, typically 48 months paid up front. Hostinger’s Premium plan at roughly $2.99 a month is a 48-month price. Buy it that way and four years costs about $143. Buy the same plan twelve months at a time and the same four years costs about $431, because three of them are at the renewal rate.
That is a difference of nearly $290, on the same plan, at the same host, purely from which button you clicked at checkout. It is larger than the gap between almost any two hosts in the table above. If you take one thing away from this page, take that: choose the term deliberately, because it outweighs the brand decision.
Why renewals jump at all
It is worth understanding the mechanism, because it tells you what to expect rather than leaving you feeling tricked.
Shared hosting is a competitive market where customers compare on the advertised monthly price and very little else. A host that raised its intro rate to something sustainable would simply vanish from the comparison tables, so instead the industry sells the first term at or below cost to win the customer, and recovers the money over the following years. Acquiring a hosting customer is expensive and most of them stay for years, so the maths works.
Two consequences follow. First, the intro price is a marketing number and the renewal is the real price of the service, so that is the one to compare. Second, hosts with genuinely lower running costs can afford gentler renewals, which is part of why Namecheap sits where it does and why the hosts with the most aggressive support and infrastructure spending sit at the other end.
None of this is hidden. Every host in this table shows the renewal rate in the cart before you pay. It is just shown at the moment you are least likely to read it.
What is not in the sticker price
The monthly figure is not the whole bill, and a few extras catch people out consistently.
A free domain for the first year is common and renews at the standard rate afterwards, usually around $15 to $20 for a .com. Domain privacy is bundled free by some hosts and sold as an add-on by others, including GreenGeeks. Automatic backups vary enormously: daily backups are standard at some hosts and a paid upgrade at others, and on the cheapest tiers the backup you have may be weekly rather than daily. Business email is included on most shared plans for a first year and then billed separately at several hosts. Migration is free at most of the hosts here, but not all, and monthly billing frequently carries a setup fee that annual billing waives.
Add those up and a plan advertised at $2.99 can comfortably be $8 or $9 a month in practice. The fix is not to distrust hosts, it is to untick the pre-selected add-ons in the cart and decide which ones you actually want.
How to pay the least without regretting it
Five things work, in rough order of how much they save.
Buy the longest term you can afford at the intro rate, because as shown above that single choice is worth more than the difference between most hosts. Put the renewal date in your calendar the day you buy, with a reminder a month before, because renewals are usually automatic and the whole model depends on you not noticing. Untick the add-ons at checkout and add back only what you need. When the renewal does arrive, ask: hosting support teams have meaningful discretion on retention discounts and a polite message before you cancel often produces one. And if the answer is no and you have outgrown the plan anyway, migrate then, because that is the moment the switching cost is lowest.
One more thing worth saying plainly: cheapest is not automatically best. SiteGround is the most expensive host in this table over four years and it is also, in our testing, among the best for support and speed. If your site earns money, an extra few pounds a month for support that answers quickly is not an indulgence. The point of this page is not to push you to the bottom of the price list. It is to make sure the price you are comparing is the price you will actually pay.
Our best-value pick on the long term
Hostinger’s Premium plan is the one we recommend most often for a first site: about $2.99 a month on the long term, which locks the intro rate for four years instead of renewing at three times the price. Check the current rate and the renewal line before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Why does web hosting get more expensive after the first year?
Because the first term is a customer acquisition price rather than the real price. Shared hosting is compared almost entirely on the advertised monthly figure, so hosts sell the first term cheaply to win the sale and recover the cost over subsequent years when most customers stay put. The renewal rate is the genuine cost of the service, which is why it is the number worth comparing. Every host shows it in the cart before payment.
Which host has the cheapest renewal price?
Namecheap, by a wide margin. Its entry Stellar plan renews at roughly $4.48 a month against an intro of about $1.98, an increase of only 2.3 times, and it is the only host in our comparison whose renewal stays in single figures. Over four years that works out at about $185 against $430 to $700 for most of the field. The trade is that its feature set and support are more basic than the pricier hosts.
Which host has the steepest renewal increase?
GreenGeeks, at about 4.7 times, going from roughly $2.95 to $13.95 a month. SiteGround is close behind at 4.5 times and ends up the most expensive over four years in absolute terms at around $696, because both its intro and renewal rates are higher. Neither is a bad host, and SiteGround in particular earns much of its price in support quality, but both should be bought with the renewal figure in mind rather than the intro.
Is it cheaper to buy hosting for four years up front?
Usually yes, and by more than most people expect. Hostinger’s Premium plan at about $2.99 a month is a 48-month price, so four years costs roughly $143 bought that way against roughly $431 bought a year at a time, since three of those years fall at the renewal rate. That is a saving of nearly $290 on the same plan at the same host. The catch is that it is paid up front and hosting refunds are typically prorated, so only commit for four years if you are confident the site will exist that long.
Can I negotiate a lower renewal price?
Often, yes. Support teams at most shared hosts have some discretion over retention offers, and a polite enquiry shortly before renewal, mentioning that you are weighing up alternatives, frequently produces a discount or an extension of the introductory rate. It is not guaranteed and it works better if you have been a customer for a while. If it fails, that is the natural moment to migrate, because you have no unused term left to write off.
What else should I budget for beyond the hosting plan?
Domain renewal after the free first year, typically $15 to $20 for a .com, plus domain privacy if your host charges for it. Then check what your plan does about backups, because daily backups are included on some plans and are a paid extra or weekly-only on the cheapest tiers. Business email is often free for a year and billed after. Untick the pre-selected add-ons at checkout, since a plan advertised at $2.99 can easily reach $8 or $9 a month once they are all included.
The bottom line
The advertised price of web hosting tells you almost nothing useful. Across the nine hosts we track, entry plans sit within about $36 of one another in year one and more than $500 apart across four years, and the ordering changes completely between those two views. If you compare the wrong number, you will make the wrong choice and not find out for twelve months.
So do two things. Compare renewal rates rather than intro rates, because the renewal is the real price of the service. Then choose your term deliberately, because locking a long term at the intro rate saves more than switching host ever will. Do both and you will pay somewhere between a third and a half of what the same site costs the person who bought on the headline figure. For where these hosts land on everything other than price, our best web hosting rankings have the full picture.
